100% Stoneground Whole Wheat Raisin Hokkaido Sourdough Milk Bread

Ok are you sick of me posting Hokkaido Milk Breads, if you are sorry, not sorry 😂.  I’m so pleased at how well these 100% whole wheat breads bake up.  They can reach such great lofts despite all the bran, none of which was sifted whatsoever.  I wanted to start making some variations on these all whole wheat loaves and realized that I hadn’t seen any with fruit in them.  I had raisins so also wanted to try Caroline’s (Trailrunner) trick of hydrating them with minimal water and the microwave.  I usually soak my dried fruit in some liquor because we have lots and it never gets drank, but I’m also cognizant of the fact that the alcohol might inhibit the yeast somewhat and since this is an enriched dough which also slows the microbes I didn’t want to exacerbate that.

Recipe for a 9”x4”x4” pullman pan

 

Sweet Stiff Starter 

• 53g whole wheat flour 

• 24g water 

• 18g light brown sugar 

• 18g sourdough starter ~100% hydration 

1:1.33:2.9:1  starter:water:flour:sugar

 

Tangzhong classic 1:5 ratio

• 89g milk

• 18g Whole Wheat flour   

 

Dough Dry Ingredients 

• 8 g vital wheat gluten

      · 400 g whole wheat      

• 30 g sugar 

• 7g salt  1.6%

 

Dough Wet Ingredients 

• 180g milk 

• 50g egg (about 1 lg egg)

• 60g butter 

 

Raisin soaker 

60 g Raisins misted with water and microwaved very briefly to hydrate, this worked really well.

 

Pre-bake Wash 

• 1 egg beaten

• 1 Tbsp milk

 

 

Instructions

Starter 

Mix the starter ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth. 

Press down with your knuckles to create a uniform surface and to push out air.

At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak.

Tangzhong 

In a sauce pan set on med-low heat, whisk the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl.  Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as this gélatinées at this temperature. 

 

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk, egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar and levain.  Mix and then break up the levain into smaller pieces.  Next add the flour and vital wheat gluten.  Mix on low speed and drizzle in the melted butter.  Once incorporated increase the speed gradually to medium.  Mix at medium until the gluten is well developed, approximately 15-20 mins.  You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.

 

Shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5 hours at 82ºF. 

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier, remember if you do so they final proof will take longer.

 

Prepare your pans by greasing them or line with parchment paper.

Scrape the dough out onto a clean counter top. Lightly flour the bench. Transfer the dough onto the bench and divide it into four. I like to weight them to have equal sized lobes. Shape each tightly into a boule, allow to rest 5 mins. Using a rolling pin roll each ball out and then letterfold. Turn 90* and using a rolling pin roll each out to at least 8”.  Top each rolled out dough with a quarter of the raisins.  Roll each into a tight roll with some tension. Arrange the rolls of dough inside your lined pan alternating the direction of the swirls. This should allow a greater rise during proof and in the oven.

 

Cover and let proof for 6-8 hours, longer time if you chilled your dough for shaping. I proof until the top of the dough comes to within 1 cm of the top edge of the pan.

 

Preheat the oven to 350F and brush the dough with the egg-milk wash.  Just prior to baking brush with the egg-milk wash again.

 

Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 190ºF, rotating as needed to get even browning. Shield your loaf if it gets brown early in the baking process. After 50 mins remove the bread from the pan and bake a further 10 mins by placing the loaf directly in the oven on the rack with the oven turned down to 325ºF. You can brush the top of the loaf with butter if you wish at this point while the bread is still hot to keep the top crust soft.